3 ms·

I think the best quote was from Matt Levine in his "Money Stuff" Bloomberg column. I can't find it right now but it was essentially he was talking about paper k

I think the best quote was from Matt Levine in his "Money Stuff" Bloomberg column. I can't find it right now but it was essentially he was talking about paper key practices and said: "Imagine you go into a room of computer scientists and say: 'I've developed the most secure form of money possible, it's so secure you can't keep it on your computer and you have to dig a hole in your backyard and keep it there' you'd be laughed out of the room."

salty_biscuits 6y ago
Umm, this is sort of what Turing, arguably the father of computer science, actually did once (allegedly) https://www.reuters.com/article/us-markets-saft/saft-on-wealth-learning-from-turings-silver-hoard-idUSKCN0UY2OC https://www.reuters.com/article/us-markets-saft/saft-on-weal...
lupire 6y ago
Easier than digging a hole in my backyard for a $million in cash.
- chihuahua 6y ago
  That's probably true. Cash becomes very unwieldy in large amounts. In part this is intentional to make it more difficult to carry $millions across borders undetected. It's not a coincidence that US$ in excess of $20 denomination is rare. In Europe, there's the E500 bill, which is a bit more practical for large amounts, and some have expressed a desire to withdraw it from circulation for this reason.
  - alasdair_ 6y ago
    The 500EUR bill exists because Germans want it to exist. Historically Germans have been adverse to things like credit cards and other third-party financial records, largely because of the whole Nazi state thing.
    - rswail 6y ago
      It's more related to the superinflation during the Weimar period than the Nazi state. The Nazi's rise can be directly correlated (if not caused) by the inflation. That's why the Bundesbank have always been inflation hawks and had to be convinced that the Euro would remain similar in focus to the Deutschmark. Whether that is still true after 2008 is an interesting question :)
      - throwaway-8c93 6y ago
        The rise Nazi is more a result of the sweeping austerity program Brüning's administration embarked on at the onset of the Great Depression. The hyperinflation episode took place in 1922-1923, Nazi's took power in 1933. It's a bit like blaming Bill Clinton for the slow 2010s recovery. The scale of the cutback that Brüning enacted from 1930 to 1932 is truly staggering. The authors estimate that Brüning cut German government spending by about 15 percent, after inflation, from 1930 to 1932. He raised income taxes on high earners by an average of 10 percent, and slashed unemployment, pension, and welfare benefits. The economic consequences were horrific. GDP fell by 15 percent, as did government revenue. Unemployment increased from 22.7 percent to 43.8 percent. Brüning came to be known as the “Hunger Chancellor.”
      - morelisp 6y ago
        I don't understand the connection. Surely inflation hawks would want generally smaller bills? But even then only the stupidest among them would also think this could be achieved via printing specific denominations rather than interest rate and other real fiscal policy. My understanding as an expat was the same as alasdair's - 2010-2015 I saw plenty of Germans drop a couple 500s to pay for hotel stays, major appliances, etc. Few people had a credit card and those that did didn't want to use it domestically. It's changing now but people still carry more cash and true credit card payments are still often impossible even as bank cards are now more common. I guess you could argue this is also related to Weimar inflation, but I don't think it's so specific. Germany has seen multiple major regime changes in the space of one lifetime.
- alfiedotwtf 6y ago
  Depends where you live... in Asia in the 17/1800s, people literally buried gold and silver in their backyards
psanford 6y ago
Here you go: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2017-08-23/blockchain-mania-and-mifid-ii https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2017-08-23/blockc...

salty_biscuits 6y ago

Umm, this is sort of what Turing, arguably the father of computer science, actually did once (allegedly) https://www.reuters.com/article/us-markets-saft/saft-on-wealth-learning-from-turings-silver-hoard-idUSKCN0UY2OC https://www.reuters.com/article/us-markets-saft/saft-on-weal...

lupire 6y ago

Easier than digging a hole in my backyard for a $million in cash.

chihuahua 6y ago
That's probably true. Cash becomes very unwieldy in large amounts. In part this is intentional to make it more difficult to carry $millions across borders undetected. It's not a coincidence that US$ in excess of $20 denomination is rare. In Europe, there's the E500 bill, which is a bit more practical for large amounts, and some have expressed a desire to withdraw it from circulation for this reason.
- alasdair_ 6y ago
  The 500EUR bill exists because Germans want it to exist. Historically Germans have been adverse to things like credit cards and other third-party financial records, largely because of the whole Nazi state thing.
  - rswail 6y ago
    It's more related to the superinflation during the Weimar period than the Nazi state. The Nazi's rise can be directly correlated (if not caused) by the inflation. That's why the Bundesbank have always been inflation hawks and had to be convinced that the Euro would remain similar in focus to the Deutschmark. Whether that is still true after 2008 is an interesting question :)
    - throwaway-8c93 6y ago
      The rise Nazi is more a result of the sweeping austerity program Brüning's administration embarked on at the onset of the Great Depression. The hyperinflation episode took place in 1922-1923, Nazi's took power in 1933. It's a bit like blaming Bill Clinton for the slow 2010s recovery. The scale of the cutback that Brüning enacted from 1930 to 1932 is truly staggering. The authors estimate that Brüning cut German government spending by about 15 percent, after inflation, from 1930 to 1932. He raised income taxes on high earners by an average of 10 percent, and slashed unemployment, pension, and welfare benefits. The economic consequences were horrific. GDP fell by 15 percent, as did government revenue. Unemployment increased from 22.7 percent to 43.8 percent. Brüning came to be known as the “Hunger Chancellor.”
    - morelisp 6y ago
      I don't understand the connection. Surely inflation hawks would want generally smaller bills? But even then only the stupidest among them would also think this could be achieved via printing specific denominations rather than interest rate and other real fiscal policy. My understanding as an expat was the same as alasdair's - 2010-2015 I saw plenty of Germans drop a couple 500s to pay for hotel stays, major appliances, etc. Few people had a credit card and those that did didn't want to use it domestically. It's changing now but people still carry more cash and true credit card payments are still often impossible even as bank cards are now more common. I guess you could argue this is also related to Weimar inflation, but I don't think it's so specific. Germany has seen multiple major regime changes in the space of one lifetime.
alfiedotwtf 6y ago
Depends where you live... in Asia in the 17/1800s, people literally buried gold and silver in their backyards

psanford 6y ago

Here you go: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2017-08-23/blockchain-mania-and-mifid-ii https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2017-08-23/blockc...